The morning is dreary, but the sort of dreariness chased away by a few lit lamps. I always feel a sense of comfort from the lights.

Today I have no to do list. I have done the last few days. I have a back ache and a groaning body from the lifting and moving. Today being Sunday is a day of rest actually and metaphorically.

My dance card this week is uke heavy. Besides the usual practice and lesson I have three concerts. They begin the summer of concerts.

Yesterday I switched from winter to summer. I replaced the door storms with screens. It was a project. The storms were so heavy I couldn’t easily lift them so I catty-corner moved them side to side. I held my breath for so long going down the cellar stairs with them I skirted passing out. I couldn’t reach the top of the storms to loosen the screws so I grabbed my step ladder, also heavy, also needing to be moved side to side. The screens went in easily. Last night I could feel the breeze from the back door.

My lack of strength was evident when I moved the glass to the cellar yesterday. I used to be able to carry 50 pounds of cat litter into the house and up the stairs. Now, I strain. Now I am old. People usually contradict me when I say that, and I look at them quizzingly. I will be 78 in August. The bloom has long been off the rose.

When I was a kid, we lived in a duplex in the project. It was always called the project. For us it was just a neighborhood. I remember when my friend from New Jersey came with me to my hometown. I gave her a tour including a stop at the project. She couldn’t believe we called it a project. She said she expected huge brick buildings with apartments and some clothes lines crisscrossing concrete yards in the back. We had a few brick buildings I explained, but they were town buildings and banks. This was our project.

This is not my usual musing. It is the story of my last night’s archeological dig in my den. Curiosity started the whole mess.

In my den I have a large furniture piece with a cushion for seating. Underneath the cushion is storage. I wanted to know what is there. I had to move all sorts of stuff to get at the storage. I found stacks of CD’s. I took a few. I also found 3 DVD’s, all the seasons of Clatterford, one of my favorite BBC series. My DVD player has bitten the dust, dead of old age, so I will have to use my outside DVD player to watch them.

That wasn’t the end. I saw a couple of boxes filled with unknowns. In order to get at the boxes I had to move pictures, baskets, a kite, an Elvis wig, a Jelly Belly machine and empty small bottles saved for a project. Inside a one box I found vintage Wilton cake toppers including hula dancers, palm trees, cowboys and soccer players. They are so wonderful I wanted to bake a cake. Another had photo Christmas cards, all black and white of people I don’t know. I have used them as Christmas decorations. I also found old cook books of recipes from movies. I found some tins. Inside one were old Christmas tags and cards. Now, keep in mind that in order to get to all these I had to move so much stuff it covered the furniture and floor. It was hot so I had to keep stopping for a cold drink and a bit of a rest. Finally I had finished exploring. I started putting everything back. I also ended up reorganizing so I could get at some of those tins again. I was exhausted.

When I was a kid, my closet floor was always covered with a pile, a layered pile. I had to organize it often so I’m thinking that was practice for last night. I have become adept at reorganizing a mess.

Today is a switch from spring to summer. I am taking down the storms from the doors and putting in the screens, more heavy labor. My poor sloth is screaming in protest.